An experimental, hormone-free male birth control pill has just passed its first safety test in humans. The trial included 16 people and was only intended to test whether the drug reached adequate levels in the body, as well as whether it triggered any serious side effects, such as concerning changes in heart rate, hormone function, … Read more
Scientists have invented an injectable “goo” that can regrow cartilage in the body. For now, they’ve only tested it in sheep, but it could someday be used to repair joint damage in humans, the researchers say. In particular, they hope the goo can treat damage caused by degenerative diseases, such as osteoarthritis, and sports-related injuries, … Read more
For the first time, scientists have tested a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine in a patient with a deadly form of brain cancer — and it triggered a strong immune response. The vaccine, which was described in a study published on May 1 in the journal Cell, was created by extracting genetic material called RNA from … Read more
Microplastics may hang around in the body longer than scientists previously thought and may contribute to the spread of cancer when inside tumors, a lab-dish study suggests. The research has several limitations, however. For instance, the scientists used cancer cells grown in lab dishes, so it remains to be seen how the results apply to … Read more
A new, flexible device that clings to the neck can translate muscular movements into speech, enabling people to talk without using their vocal cords. The small patch not only detects the movements of the throat associated with speech, but also harnesses that movement to generate electricity, meaning the device can be operated without a battery … Read more
Scientists are working to build blood vessels from human cells using tiny ice sculptures — these frigid 3D forms twist and branch like real arteries and can be used as temporary scaffolds that later get melted away, to be replaced by living cells. The researchers demonstrated the first step of this blood-vessel-building process in a … Read more
Several children born with a rare, inherited form of deafness can now hear thanks to two new gene therapies, clinical trial results show. Both therapies target the gene for otoferlin, a protein in the inner ear that lets nerve cells translate vibrations from sound into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain. Mutations … Read more
Scientists have unearthed 188 previously unknown types of CRISPR systems buried in the genomes of simple microorganisms. Best known as a powerful gene-editing tool, CRISPR actually comes from an inbuilt defense system found in bacteria and simple microbes called archaea. CRISPR systems include pairs of “molecular scissors” called Cas enzymes, which allow microbes to cut … Read more
A method for “reanimating” organ donors’ hearts works just as well as the standard approach to collecting hearts for transplantation, new trial data shows. If widely applied, the method could increase the heart donor pool by an estimated 30%. “Honestly if we could snap our fingers and just get people to use this, I think … Read more
For the first time, a patient in a completely locked-in state due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was able to communicate verbally using a brain-computer interface, according to a new study. This technology allowed the patient, a 37-year old man with ALS, to communicate by forming words and phrases, despite not having any voluntary muscle … Read more
